1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a neck and cervical spine protector and, more particularly, is concerned with a protector device that disperses axial compressive forces on the head away from the neck and cervical spine region to the shoulders and upper thoracic region of the user's body.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Participation in competitive contact sports such as football and in other activities like riding motorcycles where a helmet is used by the participant creates many opportunities for injuries to the neck and spine of the participant's body. The cervical spine, which serves to protect spinal neural tissues and connects the head to the rest of the body, is especially susceptible to injury from axial compressive loads placed upon it. Such loads occur when force is applied to the top, back or crown of the head in a direction toward a person's body. These axial compressive forces, when excessive as in sports or other activities, may cause a person's vertebrae to loose its structural integrity. This loss of structural integrity, in the cervical spine, is highly dangerous and may cause neural dysfunction as severe as quadriplegia or death.
Axial loading has been established as a major cause of spinal injuries as the cervical spine and surrounding soft tissues are especially vulnerable to dynamic injury. Injuries involving hyper-extension and hyper-flexion whiplash may also cause damage to the cervical spine and surrounding tissue and possibly neural tissue due to its mechanism of injury inclusive of compressive forces. Damage to the cervical spine may cause neural dysfunction such as quadriplegia or death.
Many devices have been developed over the years to address the prevention of injuries to the neck and spine of a person's body. Some of these devices are not for use in contact sports but are specifically tailored for neck trauma therapy or to prevent whiplash-type injuries resulting from sudden movements of the neck. The most common feature of these devices is a brace or pad at or near the neck. Representative examples of such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,522,804 to Towbin and U.S. Pat. No. 4,562,833 to Pujals, Jr.
Other devices are specifically tailored to prevent whiplash-type and compressive injuries to the neck and spine during a person's participation in contact sports such as football or in other activities such as riding motorcycles where a helmet is worn by the participant. Many of these devices utilize braces or pads similar to those devices disclosed in the above mentioned prior art. Representative examples of these devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,189,917 to Sims, U.S. Pat. No. 3,591,863 to Rickard, U.S. Pat. No. 4,094,015 to Howard, U.S. Pat. No. 4,219,193 to Newman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,161 to Littler, U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,362 to Ettinger, U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,529 to Santos, U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,408 to Gaines and U.S. Pat. No. 5,287,562 to Rush, III.
A major problem with these devices, however, is that they fail to effectively disperse compressive forces from the head region to other parts of the body. For example, the Gaines patent discloses a device extensively aimed at providing support for the deterrence of axial compressive fractures in the cervical spine region with a flexible support brace assembly that has a shoulder brace portion with right and left shoulder members which overlie the shoulders on opposite sides of the neck and extend down the back on opposite sides of the cervical spine to where they connect to shoulder pads worn by a football player. The right and left shoulder members are connected by a cross bar which, in turn, is connected to the player's helmet by a neck brace member. The problem with this device, however, is that it relies upon a single narrow brace to resist and disperse compressive forces from the helmet to the shoulders and therefore requires too much redirection of the impact forces before transmission to and dispersion over a greater area can take place.
Consequently, a need still exists for an effective means for the dispersion of axial compressive forces on the head away from the neck and spine to other parts of the body for use in contact sports such as football and in other activities such as riding motorcycles where a helmet is worn by the participant.